By most swim team standards, the Douglas County Stingrays are a relatively small group of about 180.

But within that number, coach Judy Prokopiak, has some good quantity.

When the Georgia Swimming fall Top 20 was released earlier this week, the Stingrays had three swimmers among the best in the state.

Chloe Miller and Kamaria Mahone, who swim in the 11-12 age group, had top times in butterfly and backstroke events, while Justin Moore, 13, was listed among the top swimmers in four events.

Miller, 11, has the 13th-fastest time in the 50 fly with a time of 29.62 seconds, which is second among 11-year-olds. She had a time of 1:06.93 for the 18th-fastest time in the 100 fly, also second for her age.

Mahone, 11, has the seventh-fastest time in the 50 back (30.33), second for her age, and her time of 1:06.55 in the 100 back is No. 18 in the age division. It is third-fastest for an 11-year-old.

Both swimmers have achieved AAA national motivational time standard, which give them all-star status for the second straight swim season.

Moore, who joined the Stingrays at the beginning of the season in August, had top times in the 50 and 100 freestyles and 50, 100 and 200 back events. All his times were listed for when he was still 12. In the 50 and 100 free, he is ranked No. 7 and No. 20, respectively. He is ranked No. 2 in the 50 back (27.58), No. 4 in the 100 (59.76) and No. 10 in the 200 at 2:21.08. Moore’s 100 time in the back was achieved at the Senior State Championship at Georgia Tech. He was one of the youngest competitors at the event.

Prokopiak was pleased to learn about the rankings.

“What an awesome little team we have with three swimmers ranked in the top 20 in Georgia,” she said. “Georgia swimming is one of the fastest swimming organizations in the nation. I am so proud to be called their coach, and I am sure as we move into the spring we will see even more success from a few more of our Stingrays.”

Douglas County opened the 2010 portion of its season last week at the Tara Invite with a lot of success. The Stingrays had six summers to make new age-group state cut times.

Making state-cut times at the Steve Lundquist Natatorium in Jonesboro were Jesse Hagy, Madison Moore, Kalie Whiddon, Emily Najar, Miller and Mahone.

Hagy, 10, swam in the open division at the Tara meet and had state cuts in the 500 free, 50 free, 100 back and 100 fly, which were all personal-best times. He dropped 17 seconds from his previous time in the 500 free and another eight seconds in his 100 fly.

Madison Moore, 9, dropped 2.55 seconds from her 50 fly for a time of 38.17 for a state cut as she placed seventh in the event. Whiddon, 12, finished sixth in the 100 back at 1:09.2 to make a state-cut time.

Completing what Prokopiak called the “IMX Super Stingrays Challenge,” Mahone placed sixth in the 200 fly with a state-cut time of 2:46.9 while Najar, 12, was third in the event with a state-cut time of 2:39.5. Miller also completed the events in the challenge with a ninth- place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a state-cut time of 2:59.9.

“They have been working hard, and I am especially excited to see them take on longer and more challenging races, especially with such great success,” Prokopiak said.

Swimming in her last meet in the 9-10 age group was newcomer Makenzie Buck, who had top 10 finishes in all nine events she entered. Her best event was a first-place finish in the 50 breast with a time of 40.59. She also had a runner-up finish in the 50 back and was third in both the 100 individual medley and 100 breast.

In addition, Kadem LaFargue, 12, Mahone, Miller and Whiddon had top 10 finishes in all events they entered. Miller finished with a team-high 57 points followed by Buck at 56 points. Mahone accumulated 46 points as Whiddon had 33 and LaFargue finished with 29 points.

The Stingrays have two more meets before the 14-and-Under Age-Group Championships in Savannah from Feb. 26-28. So far, nine swimmers have qualified for the meet.

“We are coming into the championship season, and I am proud to see the strong races our swimmers put together last weekend,” Prokopiak said. “They have been working hard and I am especially excited to see even our novice swimmers swimming really hard races for beginners. The new state qualifying swims always excite me. We have a few more swimmers that are very close to making state cuts.”